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An executive order that Gov. John Kasich allowed to lapse after taking office would have
prevented Terry Thompson from owning exotic animals.

The order, issued by Gov. Ted Strickland but permitted to expire by Kasich last spring,
prohibited anyone who had been “convicted of an offense involving the abuse or neglect of any
animal pursuant to any state, local, or federal law” from owning exotic animals.

Thompson, the owner of the more than 50 animals set free in Muskingum County, had an animal
cruelty and two other related convictions in 2005.

Speaking at a conference in Canton, Ohio, today, Kasich called the situation “a mess” and a “
terrible thing,” but took no blame for allowing Strickland’s order to lapse.

He added: “This has to be fixed."

“This is unbelievable that this even existed, and what's hard for me to understand is why
Ohio over time didn't deal with this, but we'll deal with it now.”

Kasich said he would push a task force working on an exotic-animals law and regulations to
move more quickly. He said the state also should deal with animal auctions being held around the
state and do background checks on exotic-animal owners.

“If there's some way I could've prevented it, I would. But what we have to do is move forward
and make sure we can clearly limit anything like this in the future.”

Wayne Pacelle, the head of the Humane Society of the U.S., urged Kasich to issue an immediate
executive order banning sale and transfer of exotic animals in Ohio.

“We need an emergency rule right away,” Pacelle said. “Nothing in the nation has come close
to this number of large dangerous animals in a populated area.”

The previous largest wild-animal escape in the U.S. was in Idaho where 26 lions got loose, he
said.

Bill Damschroder, chief legal counsel for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources — the
agency that would have enforced the executive order — said the Kasich administration determined
that the executive order “exceeded the agency’s authority.”

Damschroder said legislation was not in place that empowered the agency to do the things
required by Strickland’s order. In addition, it allocated no resources to do the statewide
enforcement job.

In an interview with
The Dispatch, Strickland said the order was “a common-sense compromise. ... We tried to be
fair in certain grandfather provisions. But someone with a record like this man was not intended to
have these animals.”

Instead of renewing Strickland’s order, Kasich put Natural Resources in charge of a working
group to craft legislation controlling the sale and ownership of exotic animals. That group has
been developing a proposal for several months, but has not completed the task.

Strickland’s order would not have banned exotic-animal ownership overall, but it would have
required owners to register their animals with the state.

Pacelle said the working group must quickly “finish up its work and develop a recommended
bill to be passed by the legislature so we have a permanent answer to this problem.”